Barefoot presents ‘Cube and Colour’

Barefoot began over 40 years ago, when a youthful Barbara Sansoni was invited to design cloth for young Sri Lankan woman who had limited schooling and skills. Learning to weave was part of their rehabilitation programme.

Today, Barbara Sansoni -Lewcock is an internationally recognised textile designer and the company she founded called Barefoot has three shops in Sri Lanka and exports textiles worldwide. The company has a small team headed by her son, Dominic Sansoni, of dedicated designers who work with dyers, weavers and skilled sewers.

This exhibition gives an opportunity to view a collection of Barbara Sansoni-Lewcock’s textile sculptures. Several of the exhibits are textile sculptures from over 30 years ago, some have been reworked and others have been made using Barbara’s archival designs with original bricks and sewn together by Sarojini – Barbara’s original seamstress.

Barbara has always purported that textiles and architecture are closely connected. Ellen Dissanayake, an independent scholar whose work focuses on the anthropological exploration of art and culture, summarised succinctly that Barbara Sansoni’s relationship with weaving led her to discover a “fundamental similarity between weaving and building.” She quotes

Barbara as saying, “There is closeness between the way a loom works and the construction of a simple house. Both are supremely rational and absolutely honest. They each have to do with tension. In the loom, a frame holds the threads and in the house the frame holds up the roof.”

The textile sculptures shown in this exhibition demonstrate Barbara’s invention of “an inlay or brick building technique to make fabric walls, where one can see windows and doors, open and closed, sometimes with views or shutters. A brick pattem, staggered and alternated, is like a weaving pattern enlarged.”

According to Barbara, both her textile brick invention and Barefoot’s patchwork developed from very practical needs. They were both very transportable. The textile bricks enabled

Barbara to continue working with textiles to create architectural pieces while she accompanied her scholarly husband as he worked in Cambridge, UK, MIT, and Atlanta, USA.

Patchwork is an efficient way for Barefoot to use up off cuts and patchy weaving, and is easy for home-workers to carry home on public transport.

Barbara is quoted by Rita Sebastion in a 1982 Sunday Times article as saying that her inspiration to create textile sculptures came directly from viewing the Frozen Tomb ancient textile sculpture in the British Museum. This experience made her realise that fabrics endure. Barbara Sansoni’s exhibit ‘The Dutch Cupboard’ and some of the cloth bricks used are over 35 years old – substantiating that Barefoot fabrics endure.

The Barefoot Design team has been having great fun working together to create this collection.

Dominic Sansoni is internationally known for his colourful photography which “displays his love for what is past, what is obsolete and what is nearly extinct” with “a little post-modern twist somewhere in the frame (look for it).”

Preethi Hapuwatte, Marie Gnanaraj and Nelun Harasgama (who are well seasoned Barefoot designers and well known artists in their own rights) works of art shown in this exhibition confirm their individual and collective artistic coherence and collectable talent.

Nilloufer Victoria creates her unique pieces when she needs to clear her head from the pressure of management. Shaunagh Aluwihare’s patchwork pieces exhibit her growth as a designer who can work outside the discipline of dressmaking and her dedication to detail.

Gnei Raseen’s patchwork garments are exquisitely constructed showcasing her sewing expertise.

Dunyasha Victoria’s is the first Barefoot baby who has worked as a designer to exhibit. Her patchwork pieces show a flair for design that gives all the design team a quiet nurturing satisfaction.

The designers have been supported by Barefoot dyers, weavers, seamstresses, home-workers and all those at Barefoot who are the important cogs in maintaining Barefoot’s existence.

The exhibition will be held at the Barefoot Gallery Colombo from 21 September until 7 October 2012.The gallery’s opening times are 10 a.m. on weekdays and 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. on Sundays.

Please visit www.barefootgallery.com for contact details and www.barefootceylon.com for more information on Barbara Sansoni and Barefoot.